Governor Blagojevich, the sheriff with testicular virility, wants to clean up Chicago by sending in National Guard troops and Illinois troopers. He wants to tame the wild wild west of "out of control" violence in Chicago.The Chicago Sun-Times today writes that "Gov. Blagojevich has offered to 'loan' state troopers and National Guard equipment to the city to augment the work of Chicago Police officers. The image of state troopers and National Guard helicopters patrolling the streets of Chicago is certain to embarrass Mayor Daley." [Source]
That's a nice gesture, isn't it? It's also pointless, unless, as many speculate, it's just a political move to (a) divert attention away from ongoing federal corruption investigations of his administration, and/or (b) to embarrass Mayor Daley, who has been critical of Blagojevich. (Say, if states are so short of National Guard personnel, as Democrats love to say, where oh where will Sheriff Rod get all that extra manpower? Aren't they more urgently needed in the flood-ravaged areas of Illinois?)
Either way, it's great fun to watch these two major Democrats go at each other, and both make fools of themselves. Daley clings to the myth of a handgun ban-as-remedy, while Blagojevich believes (ironically) that an Illinois version of The Surge will work in Chicago. Fun, fun, fun.
There is another amusing aspect to the Sun-Times story today, which I could not resist. The photo on the front page is obviously doctored to make the goobernator look like an old West sheriff. Up here in the boondocks of Rogers Park, Alderman Joe Moore takes umbrage at such things. Moore is a very sensitive man, you see, and somewhat naive. The poor dumb bastard just doesn't understand that politicians have been the subject of critical artwork for centuries, including all of U.S. history. Moore, delicate flower that he is, whithers and cringes when he sees satirical photos of himself, such as the one shown here. He calls editors all over town and whines to them. Will Alderman Moore call the Sun-Times editors and tell them they should be ashamed of themselves for the Blago-as-sheriff photo? Or will Joe Moore learn to accept or ignore a now ancient tradition of graphically ridiculing authority figures?
